Ballet Quad Cities' “Ballet on the Lawn” and “Dex: The Heart of a Hero" at the Outing Club -- August 25.
Children's Day at the Ballet with Dex – The Heart of a Hero: Sunday, August 25, 11 a.m. activities, noon performance
Ballet on the Lawn, Sunday, August 25, 3 & 6 p.m.
The Outing Club, 2109 North Brady Street, Davenport IA
Opening their 2023-24 season with two individual productions – and three performances – on August 25, the talents of professional dance company Ballet Quad Cities will return to the great outdoors of Davenport's Outing Club for new takes on their annual presentations of Children's Day at the Ballet and Ballet on the Lawn. Artistic director and choreographer Courtney Lyon says this year's programs offer “a little smattering of everything. And she isn't kidding, given that the vignettes this year range from a Strauss waltz to an ensemble Stravinsky to a contemporary Indian piece to a twisted Edgar Allan Poe … all preceded by a costumed puppy saving a kitten from a tree.
That latter figure would be the hero of Dex – The Heart of a Hero, a half-hour ballet adapted from Caralyn Buchner's children's book, and the centerpiece of Ballet Quad Cities' Children's Day at the Ballet performance. “It's about a Dachshund,” says Lyon, “and I'm favorable to this piece, because I love those little dogs. Dex thinks he isn't big enough or tall enough or strong enough or cool enough. But he digs down deep and figures out that it's not about the size you are, but the size of your heart. So Dex orders a superhero costume in the mail and he ends up rescuing a cat from a tree … . It's just darling.”
Following that noon presentation, the 3 and 6 p.m. performances of Ballet on the Lawn will boast seven dance vignettes spread out over roughly an hour. Two of the pieces choreographed by Lyon, Danzón and The Blue Danube, were originally created by Ballet Quad Cities to perform with Orchestra Iowa as a part of Carnegie Hall’s Link Up: The Orchestra Moves outreach programs for school children earlier this year. Danzón is the official music genre of Cuba, and is a fusion of European and African influences, rhythms, and patterns. And The Blue Danube, of course, is Johann Strauss' well-known waltz, as well as a great dance showcase for the piece's meter of music and movement. "Orchestra Iowa brought us up to Cedar Rapids in April to do the dance portion of their program," says Lyon, "so no local audiences have seen these yet."
With its choreography by longtime Ballet Quad Cities member Mahalia Zellmer, Midnight Vixens concerns a quartet of women who are a force to be reckoned with in the streets of 1920s Chicago. With Grace's sharp mind, Ruby's quick wit, Violet's street smarts, and Hazel's keen eye for detail, these Windy City gumshoes navigate the city's dark underbelly, earning a reputation as the most formidable and fashionable detective agency in town.
“Then we'll be doing Naach by Deepali Phanse,” says Lyon, “who is the owner and director of the D4Dance Academy, which is a classical and folk and contemporary dance group in Bettendorf. She's done pieces on our company, I would say, for the past four years.” She adds that “it'll be a contemporary Indian dance” in the manner of the Bollywood style – a fusion of different Indian and international dance styles including bhangra dance, semi-classical, hip-hop, jazz, salsa, and more.
Ballet Quad Cities choreographer and artistic associate Emily Kate Long serves up Dream a Little Dream, a sentimental, introspective solo that captures bittersweet feelings of love and longing, and invites the audience to witness fleeting, reflective moments of restraint and abandon. Another Lyon piece, The Oval Portrait is a coming attraction for the new, full-length ballet The Twisted Tales of Poe, which Ballet Quad Cities will stage at Moline's Spotlight Theatre this October. Poe’s horror short story “The Oval Portrait” tells of a captivating piece of artwork, the relationship between life and art, and the disturbing circumstances of creation when a painter becomes obsessed with making a perfect work of art with his wife as muse.
Meanwhile, following a brief intermission, Lyon's Dumbarton Oaks is a chamber concerto by Igor Stravinsky commissioned by Robert and Mildred Bliss for their 30th wedding anniversary, and named for their Washington D.C. estate. Now a Harvard University research institute, library, and museum, Dumbarton Oaks estate boasts one of the 10 best gardens in the world (according to National Geographic), and this original piece of choreography is inspired by the symmetrical shape and detailed texture of the Dumbarton Oaks pebble garden and fountain, as well as the Bach-like structure of Stravinsky’s neoclassical 1938 score.
“That's kind of a full-cast, more classical piece en pointe,” says Lyon of Dumbarton Oaks, “and it's about 16 minutes long. It was a piece that was created to go on tour, so it's designed to be a smaller, more intimate experience. It's perfect for the lawn. And interestingly, in March of 2020, the ballet company was performing the piece, and that turned out to be the last performance we did before everything shut down. So we finally get to bring it back!”
With both events taking place on August 25, Children's Day at the Ballet begins at 11 a.m. with face painting, lawn games, treats, storytelling, personal appearances by the dancers, and more followed by a performance of Dex - The Heart of a Hero at noon. Ballet on the Lawn performances follow at 3 and 6 p.m., with beverages and charcuterie picnic boxes available for purchase. Tickets are $15-20 for the Children's Day at the Ballet and $16.88-32.64 for Ballet on the Lawn, and more information and reservations are available by calling (309)786-3779 and visiting BalletQuadCities.com.
